In Moscow, Syrian opposition agrees unified position on necessity to stop violence

We were united in the necessity to stop violence, free political prisoners and those kidnapped, including women and children," representative of independent opposition circles Khaled al-Mahamid said

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MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/. At talks in Moscow, the Syrian opposition agreed a unified position on the necessity to stop violence and free political prisoners and abducted people, representative of independent opposition circles Khaled al-Mahamid told TASS.

"We were united in the necessity to stop violence, free political prisoners and those kidnapped, including women and children," al-Mahamid said, adding that the participants of the talks will voice those proposals at the upcoming negotiations with a delegation from Damascus.

"We believe it necessary to block channels of armament supply to terrorists, open access for humanitarian assistance to blocked areas," he said.

"Now we are all united in that the Geneva Communique, all points, are the basis for Syrian settlement," al-Mahamid said. "We are grateful to Moscow for the provided site, this is the first meeting in such format since the first day of the crisis. But we are concerned about the fate of Syrians, as the situation is in a deadlock."

Talks involving representatives of the Syrian opposition have been held for a second day in Moscow. On January 28, a delegation from Damascus will join them.

On Monday, Russian presidential special representative on the Middle East and African countries Mikhail Bogdanov said some 28 Syrian opposition representatives came to Moscow. Bogdanov also said the delegates are expected to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday.

The meetings aim to find a solution to the Syrian conflict that has been ongoing since 2011. According to UN statistics, fighting between Syrian government troops and militants has killed more than 100,000 people and displaced millions since its start in 2011.

An international peace conference on Syria, dubbed Geneva-2, organized by Russia and the United States and designed to negotiate a solution to the Syrian crisis, kicked off on January 22, 2014 in Montreux, Switzerland. Its first two rounds in January and February 2014 brought no particular progress. The parties to the Syrian conflict agreed to continue their discussions.

The Geneva Communique was adopted on June 30, 2012 at a conference of an "action group" on Syria in Geneva. That conference is now commonly referred to as "Geneva-1.".